Reviews

I am surprised it got so many negative reviews, I personally enjoyed the photography, the scenery, and the acting. I also loved the dream sequences in the film, sometimes you get tricked into believing the character is actually awake. There are also some puppets which are cool and pretty creepy. I found the film in general, captivating.

First of all, it is not a movie with action, if you are hoping for something fast paced then I would recommend you to watch something else. The film is about a boy growing up in a world where he is forced to believe every single word his father says. He later discovers his father has not been honest and decides to question him and rebel against him. It is a growing up film in post apocalyptic circumstances.

The film starts with an overprotective alcoholic father and his 3 children who live in a cabin in the middle of the woods. The film starts with the four playing hide and seek inside the house. Happy to go for another round of the game, their father, Gustavo, dryly says it's time for bed. We later see the father opens up a door leading to the basement where the children; Argel and Luciana, including his eldest son Marcos, have to sleep. The eldest goes last, glaring at his father as he continues downstairs behind his younger siblings. The father locks the basement tight with a lock.

It is later revealed that there is a monster that lives in the darkness. The children see a wolf in several occasions and weird noises torment the woods and the cabin. The younger siblings are not allowed to get outside, while the eldest, accompanies his father to hunt in order for the family to survive. In the outside world, they use gas masks to explore the woods in search for food. Luciana spends her time collecting insects she finds, while Argel wonders what his big brother Marcos wanted to tell him before going out with their father to hunt. His father later returns without Marcos. When questioned about Marco´s disappearance, his father claims the monster has taken him because he left his side.

Young Luciana gets ill, while she lays with fever she tells her sibling that "the darkness is in his room" explaining no further while she doses off to sleep. Argel starts doubting his father, he questions Marco's disappearance and starts having weird dreams. He also suspects, after encountering two other survivors, that his father is hiding something from them, probably in one of the cabin´s room where his father has forbade them to enter. The two newcomers seem to be the only ones around and claim to have seen Marcos and Argel slowly rebels against his father.

A love triangle between a beautiful girl and two best friends who rob a bank. Nothing can go well in the end. Jorge and Jaime, best friends, decide to rob a bank together. Jaime wants to impress the beautiful Erotica and marry her and Jorge is happy to help his best friend. Things go wrong and Jorge is shot and later taken to prison while Jaime runs off with Erotica. The two love birds settle down in the shores of a beautiful beach, living their lives far away from town selling sponges that Jaime recovers from the sea. Erotica goes to town alone to sell, aware that she is a woman who attracts men for her attributes and sensuality, each time she goes, she catches the eye of many villagers. In one of her journeys to town, she sees Jorge, who managed to escape prison. Erotica, afraid Jorge will ruin her honeymoon runs to Jaime and tells him. Jaime, a violent man filled with fury hits her, claiming Jorge is his friends and that he will help him, ignoring her plea. Jaime is unaware that his decision and violent attitude towards Erotica will make her fall for his best friend instead. Not the best love triangle movie out there but it was entertaining to watch.

I am surprised this has a rating of 6.9. The first episode is not that bad, but sadly, the series gets worser with each episode. The series turns from horror to comedy at one point. If you decide to watch it, keep it in mind. I am not sure if that was the original idea though. Episode 1 has interesting moments with some suspense and "ok" effects, nothing out of the ordinary, but it was enough to keep me watching. You will also notice right away that the story is different from the original. Episode 2 has very bad acting, visuals, and script. At one point I started thinking the whole series was a joke. Sometimes you are not sure what is happening. The acting is not believable at all. When the characters are supposed to be afraid they fail to communicate it and act in a stupid way just to keep the story going. Effects are also pretty bad. Episode 3 is the worse. Terrible effects, acting, illumination and script. The characters fail to act like a normal person would do in certain situations. Illumination during one scene makes one of the actress look so terrible she should sue them for it. Another scene, in which a woman is dancing in a supposedly seducing way is laughable, the scene does not have the intensity. It seems they fail to make a scene believable. Either way, it was fun to watch, my husband and I were pointing out absurd scenes, effects or acting and laughed all the way.

Beth, a widow, takes her toddler to her mother's house to spend some time far away near the sea. A strange man appears and frightens Beth. Later, the widow , who seems depressed and lifeless will have to deal with unwanted guests who seem to be coming at night to sound the doorbell. First of all, the movie is not that scary at all. The characters, situations, etc, do not leave you with any feeling at all. I get that Beth is depressed for her loss, but her acting makes the movie slow and dull. The kid is a good actor thought. Second, although the visuals of the paint combinations on water are interesting, there is not much else that could get my attention. The variation in format for the flashbacks are unnecessary in my opinion. Third, the movie feels way too slow, the acting is not that great and the situations are not believable. And last, the story in general is terrible, it doesn't build up correctly to justify the plot twist in the end. Not impressed really but you can give it a try if you have the time.

This episode was the one I liked the most, mostly for its philosophical meaning and the ending that I was not expecting. The animation is also good and although the art style is not my favorite, it managed to grab my attention instantly thanks to the story and characters. We are always questioning ourselves, what is the meaning of our existence? Why are we here? We look in so many places for the answer but always fail to discover what really makes us whole. We are constantly, as a complex form of life, evolving and changing through time. Our environment (including society) usually serves as a distraction from what is more important for us as an individual. We sometimes find ourselves too busy with needs that distance us from what we really want. Definitely would watch several more times, one of the best scfi-Philosophical short animated films I have seen.

I do not recommend this film if you are fan of movies like Annabelle or the conjuring, No jump scares here. If you are ready to watch something different, something war and history related with some PTSD, then you should give it a try.

Selma and Alex end up ruining their ride in the middle of the woods, a place full of mines from the past war. Selma, from the beginning, seems frightened and worried, like a mouse. They later meet two Serbians, neither looks trustworthy and Selma immediately knows it (¿or is only in her head?) She later gets raped by them but all the sudden it seems the rape scene was in her mind and part of memories from the war. Regardless, all the dirt from the rape scene maintains in her face, making the viewer question if it indeed happen. While the story goes on we are more convinced that Selma is suffering of PTSD. She later sees Alex getting killed by a shotgun. Each time the events go back and it seems Alex was never killed, but the Serbians are aware and weary of Selma´s attitude, growing more hostile towards the pair.

Alex always tries to maintain a neutral position, telling Selma constantly that he is her guardian angel but in reality he is not understanding what she is going through. She knows there is something wrong going on, but Alex does not listen and later on Selma is proved to be right, or at least in her own imagination. Due to the events happening, we are sure Selma is suffering greatly, but we do not know what is really going on with the events happening. What is real and what is made up by her? Selma finally changes the mouse and cat play and kills both Serbians, a human like alien makes it´s appearance, which I consider is herself, her dark self, since the being only appears at the end when she decides to kill the Serbians. Later on, Alex, who is still alive discovers his girlfriends deeds and is unsure if he should stay with her or not. His fear gets worse when he find Selma bashing one of the Serbs head in with a rock, thing he could not do himself.

I believe the ending is Selma´s reality. She is the blurry woman responsible for the bomb at the end (the one carrying the weapon), a terrorist. My guess and interpretation is that the beginning of the movie is something completely made up by her, living again her childhood traumas during the war. I am unsure if at the end of the film they already knew each other or not. It seems not, probably his lack of fear of her and his compassionate approach makes her think of him as her "guardian angel". And that leaves all the scenes in the forest with him being her boyfriend as her internal battle between good and evil. Between Alex (guardian angel) her other self (the alien like demon in the forest) and her fear of her past and the war (The Serbians).

The ending is a little confusing, there are several theories out there that can explain the final scene. For me, it made sense that all the forest scenes is in her mind is her internal battle. She is fighting against her past, fighting between whats good and wrong and against her fear and trauma of living such terrible things in her youth.